


Takes One to Know One

by aurilly



Category: Lost
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-21
Updated: 2010-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-07 09:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Extending a scene from the pilot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Takes One to Know One

Sayid could smack himself. Less than a minute after accusing Sawyer of being the criminal and making an unnecessary enemy of him, he figures it out.

The way she grabs the gun from Sawyer's back pocket. That is a practiced, almost professional, move, one that Sayid spent an entire afternoon learning back in army training. Sweet tomboys do not just happen to know how to do that to a man twice their size, no matter how distracting and disarming their beauty.

The way she holds the gun is at odds with her words, too. She's too deliberate in her hesitation. The others don't see it, but Sayid knows. That isn't the demeanour of a girl who doesn't know how to use a gun. Sayid's eyes trace carefully from the gun and down her small hands. There are slight red marks on her wrists. The others wouldn't see it, but Sayid has spent time handcuffed. He knows what the marks look like.

She plays her role beautifully, disengaging the magazine and the extra round of bullets, all the while with a nervous, concerned expression. Sawyer gets the gun and she gives Sayid the magazine, brushing her fingers against his during the transfer. And then she goes off to the side, to the rest of them looking overcome by the stress of the situation. But Sayid knows better.

In all of this, though, Sayid has no desire to publicize her secret. Even without being the marshal's prisoner, it isn't as though Sawyer will gain the trust of anyone here; why ostracize the only other capable person Sayid has so far encountered? He ignores the small tug in his gut that suggests there may be another reason.

Sayid walks up to her and takes her hand. "Kate, let's go," he says.

She nods up at him. There is violence in her eyes, violence in her past. Sayid knows because it's in his eyes and his past, too. For the first time since the crash, Sayid feels truly nervous, and not out of fear of what she might do to him. Sayid has spent years avoiding mirrors. Yet here, on this island, with no discernible furniture, where all the glass is broken, he has found the most naked mirror of all.

The best way to keep a secret is to pretend that there is no secret. That needs to be true, for both of their sakes.


End file.
